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v I Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. H. BURRITT.

Compound Engine for Canal Steamers.

No. 230,737. Patented Aug. 3, i880.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. H. BURRITT. I Compound Engine for Canal Steamers.No. 230,737.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY H. BURRITT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF OF HISRIGHT TO WILLIAM A. THOMPSON, OF SAME PLACE.

COMPOUND ENGINE FOR CANAL-STEAMERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,737, dated August3, 1880.

Application filed February 28, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. H. BURRITT, a resident of Newark, in the countyof Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented anew and usefulImprovement in Compound Engines for Canal-Steamers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in compound engines forcanal-steamers and it consists in a special construction of compoundsteam-engines.

The object of my invention is to secure the utmost economyin propellingtheboat and the utmost durability in the hull by preventing the jars andvibrations incident to other high- I speed engines.

The disagreeable vibrations felt in boats moved by screw-propellers aredue to the high speed of an unbalanced engine, while the high expensefor propulsion can only be remedied by the use of the compound enginenow generally employed in ocean-steamers.

Myinvention is designed to securefor canalsteamers a compoundsteam-engine of the very simplest form, and to prevent the jars commonto ordinary propeller-engines, by connecting the pistons by opposedcrank-pins to propeller-shaft, thus balancing the forces produced by thetwo cylinders.

The importance of a balanced engine for a canal-boat is greater than forany other class of vessels, because the hull, as ordinarilyconstructed,is designed only to be drawn through still water, and isconstructed of a poor class of material, by cheap labor, and in a poormanner; and as at present canal-boats are taken from canals into baysand other large waters, where they have to resist the strain on themcaused by waves and the motion of the water, it is of the utmostimportance that the additional strain, jar, and vibrations produced bythe engine should be reduced to a minimum. These objects I accomplish bythe use of my compound balanced engine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of mycanal-steamer, and Figs. 2 to 8 are details of the engine. Fig. 2 is afront elevation with the chests removed. Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevationof the eccentric rod and hook. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the enginewith the small cylinder, steamchests, and valves in section. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section on the line 00 min Fig. 2. Figs.

6 and 7 are enlarged views of the cut-off sleeve. Fig. 8 is a plan ofthe engine-framing with the rock-shaft mounted thereon.

In Fig. 1, A is the hull of the steamer, provided with apropeller-wheel, B, having vanes or blades attached to a cylindricalbody about one-half the diameter of the wheel, such hav- 6o ing provedleast injurious to the banks of a canal.

O is the propeller-shaft, and D the shaft of the engine, to which it iscoupled. E is the bed-plate of the engine, carrying the frame F, uponwhich I mount the high and low press ure cylinders G and H, the pistonsof which, with their connections to the driving-cranks, are made in theusual manner, and are not therefore shown in the drawings.

The crank b nearest the stern is bent in the crank-shaft D, while theone on the other side of the frame is attached to the end of the shaftat (Z and provided With a crank-pin, 0, upon the opposite side of thecrank-shaft from the crank b.

The pistons in the two cylinders are thus reciprocated in oppositedirections, and the movements of the engine balanced in such a manner asto obviate most of the jars caused by single-piston engines.

Owing to the arrangement of the cranks the valves require to be moved inopposite directions; and to efi'ect this object by the same rock-shaftandeccentric Iprovidevalve-levers or rocker-arms upon opposite sides ofthe rockshaft and arrange the steam chests and valves so that they arevertically over the extremity of these arms.

In Fig. Sis shown the rock-shaft 1" supported c upon the frames F byboxes f, and provided at g with the rocker-arm for the largecylindervalve Z, and at h with the arm for the small cylinder-valve c.

In Fig. 5 is shown the valve-seat of the 5 small cylinder G set as closeto the cylinder as possible and the seat for the valve 1 extended aconsiderable distance from the body of the large cylinder, to bring thatvalve over the extremity of the arm g.

The rock-shaft 1" is provided at one extremity with a two-armedreverse-crank, 6, having a pin at each extremity (at a a) to receive thehook j, formed upon the upper end of the co- IOO centric-rod 7c. Theeccentric K will thus operate the rock-shaft and en gine-valves inopposite directions, as it may be placed upon the pin a or a.

The valves Z and 'u are ordinary slide-valves of the D form; but thelatterI make with extension-piece c at each end, and admitthe steam tothe cylinder-ports 1) through passages s at the ends of the valve. I amthus enabled to apply cut-off blocks u a to the back of valve 1; andregulate the admission of steam to the cylinder at any desired point.

To vary the point of cut-off I provide right and left hand nuts in thecut-off blocks, which are shown, not in section in Fig. 4, but in fullView upon their valve-rod N, which is formed with right and left handthreads atn n, where it passes through the blocks a, the screw-threadsbeing -made larger than the body or stem of the rod in practice to getthe blocks both on the rod.

By turning the rod N the point of cut-off may be varied or steam takenat full-stroke when the engine is to be reversed.

To operate the cut-off blocks I provide a sleeve, S, upon the end of therock-shaft underneath the valve 17, and form it with a crank, 10, at oneend to operate the rod N, and a crank, y, at its outer end to receivethe motion of the rod m, which is operated by an eccentric-pin, M, onthe outer crank-pin, e, an arm, H, being keyed on that pin for thepurpose.

The rocker-arm it lies close beside the crank 20 on the rock-shaft r,the rods Q) and N extending downward from the valve-chest G to the armand crank, and the pin of the latter being constructed with a perforatedblock, N, in which the rod N can be revolved when the cut-off isadjusted. The valve 0 is thus operated in the required direction by theeccentric- K, while the cut-off blocks are moved by the eccentric-pinand arm M M through the medium of the cut-off sleeve S.

The steam is introduced into the chest G by a suitable pipe, and afterpassing through the highpressure cylinder G enters the exhaust-passageg, by which it is conductedinto the other steam-chest, H. Here itisdistributed to the large cylinder H by the valve Z, and is thendischarged to a condenser or into the air by pipe H.

I have thus shown how the compound engine having two main steam-valvesmay be operated in either direction by a single eccentric, K, and howthe cut-off valve is operated by a sleeve mounted upon the primaryrockshaft 1'.

The utmost simplicity and cheapness of construction are thus secured,and the arrangement of the cranks Z) and e to reciprocate the pistons inopposite directions secures the utmost smoothness of motion in theentire engine.

If desired, two eccentrics and a link can be used. and the proper motiongiven to the valves 1 and o through one of the pins to a withoutmodifying the construction and operation of the cranks b and c, asdescribed above.

In the enlarged view of the eccentric-rod k the double hook j is shownfitting upon the pin a of the reverse-crank i. Latches 7c, operated byhandles j, are shown to be used when the hook is to be thrown over byhand; but if the rey'erse-lever ordinarily employed for. reversing alink is used the whole motion of the engine may be regulated from theroom of the pilot, as shown in Fig. 1, where the tiller orsteering-wheel is shown in close proximity to the reverse-lever R andthe top of the cut-ofi' rod N. 7

In Fig. 4 are shown a bell-crank and connections, z z z, for moving 'thehook j from the deck of the boat. I am aware that such arrangements arealready in use, and do not therefore make any claim to working the hookby such connections.

I am also aware that two cylinders have been used to work twoscrew-shafts simultaneously in a canal steamer, as in patent granted toA, T. Nichols on April 16,1872, and I do not therefore claim the use oftwo cylinders to propel a canal-steamer, except they are compounded, asherein described, and constructed to operate as a balanced engine byhaving the two pistons connected to opposite crank-pins on the samedriving propeller-shaft. This is the only construction I have specifiedherein, because it possesses, as shown above, the especial merits ofeconomy, which results from the use of the steam in the manner common tocompound engines, and great smoothness of motion, which results from thebalancing of the two piston-pressures in the manner described, and whichis of the utmost importance in any motor applied to a canal-boat, forthe reasons named above.

Having thus described the construction and operation of mycanal-steamer, it is evident that with the use of the propeller wheeladapted for canals it may be operated with much less cost and damage tothe boat than with an engine not using the steam in the same economicalmanner, and not having the propelling-power operating so smoothly.

I therefore claim the same in the following manner:

The compound engine for canal-steamers, consisting of the invertedcylinders G and H, mounted upon the upright frame F, and having theirsteam-chests constructed with different projections from the same sideof the cylinders, and provided with slide-valves operated in oppositedirections by arms secured upon opposite sides of the same rock-shaft,as herein shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand this24th day of February, 1880, in the presence of two witnesses.

HARVEY H. BUR-RITT.

Witnesses WM. F. HowE, EDWIN G. BONNEAU.

